| Description |
xi, 68 leaves : illustrations ; 28 cm |
| Summary |
"This thesis focuses on design and manufacturing of Fuel cell components using Additive Manufacturing techniques and then in the later part on design and manufacturing of Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) which is a very important component in fuel cells. Additive manufacturing methods are fast and efficient manufacturing methods which are additive building up components layer by layer instead of conventional subtractive manufacturing techniques. This ensures low cost and faster manufacturing. Additive manufacturing is important for fuel cell component manufacturing since it is important in fuel cells to minimize wastage and reduce the cost. MEA is the basis of the cost factor in Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells. It contributes for more than 50% of the cost in a fuel cell. In order to reduce the cost of a fuel cell/kW, it is necessary to achieve the maximum performance of the fuel cell using least amount of the platinum catalyst. The best way to achieve that is to achieve a uniform loading of the catalyst through the entire area of the MEA. Along with this, it is important to have an efficient and at the same time a fast manufacturing method for MEA's. This thesis discusses two methods, namely Direct Deposition Process (DDP) and Electro-Write Process (EWP) and compares the efficiencies of the two using a novel way employing Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) techniques. This thesis also focuses on the importance of cost model and efficiency measurement techniques for monitoring a manufacturing method in order to know the impact of every manufacturing method of individual components on the total cost of the product"--Abstract, leaf iv. |
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